This is a fascinating book. A lot of the facts I already knew, but Diamond put them together in ways that I had not thought about before. The link betThis is a fascinating book. A lot of the facts I already knew, but Diamond put them together in ways that I had not thought about before. The link between geography, food production, disease, innovation, and dominance is compelling. I take back everything I said about all my geographer friends!...more

I have long felt that I needed to know more about World War II and his book was highly recommended by the New York Times. It filled in many gaps in myI have long felt that I needed to know more about World War II and his book was highly recommended by the New York Times. It filled in many gaps in my understanding, but left me with a lot of questions that would take more than 610 pp to answer....more

The topic of this book is what happened during the Medieval Warm Period, a time of milder temperatures in parts of northern Europe and North America,The topic of this book is what happened during the Medieval Warm Period, a time of milder temperatures in parts of northern Europe and North America, and severe droughts in many areas. He points out that, despite these general trends, the climates were highly variable. I generally enjoyed the book, but was often confused by the timing of events over a 300-400 year long period, and had a hard time keeping track of some of the global climate drivers....more

This is a comprehensive history of Guantánamo and full of interesting information. Unfortunately, this book needed to be better written and/or edited.This is a comprehensive history of Guantánamo and full of interesting information. Unfortunately, this book needed to be better written and/or edited. At times it seems to ramble. Many paragraphs have unexpected and unclear references to events that happen in the future, causing me to get confused and making me reread the section. The clearest and most interesting writing is on the current detainee situation....more